Earth's Core and Magnetic Field - What's Going on Down There?

Earth: Our Dynamic Planet

"Terra firma." It's Latin for "solid Earth." Most of the time, at least from our
perspective here on the ground, Earth seems to be just that: solid. Yet the Earth
beneath our feet is actually in constant motion. It moves through time and space,
of course, along with the other objects in the universe, but it moves internally
as well. The powerful forces of wind, water and ice constantly erode its surface,
redistributing Earth's mass in the process.

Within Earth's solid crust, faulting
literally creates and then moves mountains. Hydrological changes, such as the
pumping of groundwater for use by humans, cause the ground beneath us to undulate.
Volcanic processes deform our planet and create new land. Landslides morph and scar
the terrain. Entire continents can even rise up, rebounding from the weight of
massive glaciers that blanketed the land thousands of years ago.

A Need for Indirect Measurements

Indeed, the outermost layers of the celestial blue onion that is Earth-its crust and
upper mantle-aren't very solid at all. But what happens if we peel back the layers and
examine what's going on deep within Earth, at its very core? Obviously, Earth's core is
too deep for humans to observe directly. But scientists can use indirect methods to
deduce what's going on down there.

A new study in the journal Geophysical Research
Letters, by Jean Dickey of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California and
co-author Olivier deViron of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, University
Paris Diderot, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, has confirmed
previous theoretical predictions that the churning cauldron of molten metals that make
up Earth's liquid outer core is slowly being stirred by a very complex but predictable
series of periodic oscillations. The findings give scientists unique insights into Earth's
internal structure, the strength of the mechanisms responsible for generating Earth's
magnetic field and its geology.

Understanding Earth's "Layers"

In order to better understand what's going on inside our planet, it helps to first get a lay of the land,
so to speak.

Earth has several distinct layers, each with its own properties. At the outermost
layer of our planet is the crust, which comprises the continents and ocean basins.
Earth's crust varies in thickness from 35 to 70 kilometers (22 to 44 miles) in the
continents and 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) in the ocean basins. The crust is mainly
composed of alumino-silicates.

Next comes the mantle. The mantle is roughly solid, though very slow motion can be observed
inside of it. It is about 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) thick, and is separated into an upper
and lower mantle. It is here where most of Earth's internal heat is located. Large convective
cells in the mantle circulate heat and drive the movements of Earth's tectonic plates, upon
which our continents ride. The mantle is mainly composed of ferro-magnesium silicates.

Earth's innermost layer is the core, which is separated into a liquid outer core and a solid inner
core. The outer core is 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) thick, while the inner core is 1,200
kilometers (746 miles) thick. The outer core is mainly composed of a nickel-iron alloy
(liquid iron), while the inner core is almost entirely composed of a pure solid iron body.

A Magnetic Field from a Churning Core

Scientists believe Earth's magnetic field results from movements of molten iron and nickel within its
liquid outer core. These flows, which are caused by interactions between Earth's core and its mantle,
are neither even, nor evenly distributed. The electrical currents generated by these flows result in
a magnetic field, which is similarly uneven, moves around in location and varies in strength over
time. Earth's magnetic field is also slightly tilted with respect to Earth's axis. This causes Earth's
geographic north and south poles to not line up with its magnetic north and south poles--they currently
differ by about 11 degrees.

Magnetic Reversals

In just the last 200 million years alone, Earth's magnetic poles have actually reversed hundreds of times,
with the most recent reversal taking place about 790,000 years ago. Scientists are able to reconstruct
the chronology of these magnetic pole reversals by studying data on the spreading of the seafloor at
Earth's mid-oceanic ridges. Unlike the doomsday scenario popularized by Hollywood in the movie "2012,"
however, such reversals don't occur over days, but rather on geologic timescales spanning hundreds to
thousands of years-very short in geologic time but comparatively long in human time. The time span between
pole reversals is even longer, ranging from 100,000 to several million years.

Earth's Magnetic "Shield"

Earth's magnetic field is essential for life on Earth. Extending thousands of kilometers into space, it
serves as a shield, deflecting the constant bombardment of charged particles and radiation known as
the solar wind away from Earth. These solar winds would otherwise be fatal to life on Earth. At Earth's
poles, the perpendicular angle of the magnetic field to Earth there allows some of these particles
to make it into our atmosphere. This results in the Northern Lights in the northern hemisphere and the
Southern Lights in the southern hemisphere.

Exploiting the Magnetic Field

Here on the ground, Earth's magnetic field has many practical applications to our everyday lives. It
allows people to successfully navigate on land and at sea, making it a critical tool for commerce.
Hikers use it to find their way. Archaeologists use it to deduce the age of ancient artifacts such
as pottery, which, when fired, assumes the magnetic field properties that were present at the time
of its creation. Similarly, the field of paleomagnetism uses magnetism to give scientists glimpses
into Earth's remote past. In addition, geophysicists and geologists use geomagnetism as a tool to
investigate Earth's structure and changes taking place in the Earth.

Indirectly Measuring Earth's Magnetic Field

Since Earth's liquid core is the primary source of Earth's magnetic field, scientists can use observations
of the magnetic field at Earth's surface and its variability over time to mathematically calculate and
isolate the approximate motions taking place within the core.

That's what Dickey and deViron did. They combined measurements of Earth's magnetic field taken by
observatory stations on land and ships at sea dating back to 1840 with those of the Danish Oersted
and German CHAMP geomagnetic satellite missions, both of which were supported by NASA investments.
These measurements were then used as inputs for a complex model that employs statistical time series
analyses to determine how fast liquid iron is flowing within Earth's core.

"Although we do not observe the core directly, it's amazing how much we can learn about Earth's
interior using magnetic field observations," said Dickey.

Visualizing the Motion in Earth's Core

In order to approximate the flow of liquid in the core, the scientists visualized its motion as a set of
20 rigid cylinders, each rotating about a common point that represents Earth's axis. "Imagine that each
cylinder is slowly rotating at a different speed, and you'll get a sense of the complex churning that's
taking place within Earth's core," Dickey said.

The scientists analyzed the data to identify common patterns of movement among the different cylinders.
These patterns represent how momentum and energy are transferred from the liquid core-mantle interface
inward through the liquid core toward the inner core with diminishing amplitudes.

Oscillations in the Core

Their analyses isolated six slow-moving oscillations, or waves of motion, occurring within the liquid
core. The oscillations originated at the boundary between Earth's core and its mantle and traveled
inward toward the inner core with decreasing strength. Four of these oscillations were robust, occurring
at periods of 85, 50, 35 and 28 years. Since the scientist's data set goes back to 1840, the recurrence
period of the longest oscillation (85 years) is less well determined than the other oscillations. The
last two oscillations identified were weaker and will require further study.

The 85- and 50-year oscillations are consistent with a 1997 study by researchers Stephen Zatman and
Jeremy Bloxham of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., who used a different analysis technique.
A later purely theoretical study by Harvard researcher Jon Mound and Bruce Buffett of the University
of Chicago in 2006 showed that there should be several oscillations of this type; their predicted
periods agree with the first four modes identified in Dickey and deViron's study.

"Our satellite-based results are in excellent agreement with the previous theoretical and other studies in
this field, providing a strong confirmation of the existence of these oscillations," said Dickey. "These
results will give scientists confidence in using satellite measurements in the future to deduce long-term
changes taking place deep within our restless planet."

Cutaway views showing the internal structure of the Earth consisting of the crust, mantle and core. Image credit: United States Geological Survey.

By combining measurements of Earth's magnetic field from stations on land and ships at sea with satellite data,
scientists were able to isolate six regularly occurring waves of motion taking place deep within Earth's liquid core,
with varying timescales. Image credit: NASA/JPL